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PXE Everywhere Installation Guide
PXE Everywhere Installation Guide
PXE Everywhere Installation Guide
2 Installation Guide
PXE Everywhere v2.2
Trademarks
1E, the 1E device, APPCLARITY, ACTIVEEFFICIENCY, NIGHTWATCHMAN, NOMAD ENTERPRISE, PXE
EVERYWHERE , DROWSY and DROWSY SERVER are trademarks belonging to 1E Ltd. 1E is registered in
the UK, EU and the US. The 1E device is registered in the UK, EU, Australia and the US.
NIGHTWATCHMAN is registered in the EU and the US. Nomad is registered in the EU and the US.
DROWSY is registered in the UK. DROWSY SERVER is registered in the US.
Macintosh is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
3. Prerequisites .................................................................................................. 8
4. Installation ................................................................................................... 10
4.1 Installation ..................................................................................................... 10
CreateBCD.exe ................................................................................................ 12
PXE Everywhere local installer command-line properties ........................................ 13
Post Installation Configuration Steps ................................................................... 14
1. Welcome
Welcome to the PXE Everywhere v2.2 on-line documentation, here you can learn about how PXE
Everywhere works.
Installation Engineers can find out about the prerequisites for installing PXE Everywhere and check
Installing PXE Everywhere central server and Installing PXE Everywhere local host.
Systems administrators can find out about Configuring PXE Everywhere central server and Post
installation steps.
PXE Everywhere v2.2 works in conjunction with Nomad v5.2.
2. Introduction
2.1 Introduction
PXE Everywhere provides the ability to deploy a new OS to bare metal machines residing on a branch.
Using PXE Everywhere removes the overhead of supporting dedicated PXE servers on branch networks.
This version of PXE Everywhere is for use with ConfigMgr only.
Key benefits
PXE Everywhere solves problems in key areas of rolling out OS images to bare metal machines:
PXE Everywhere now provides the most scalable solution available for PXE-booting bare metal
machines on branch networks. The PXE Everywhere Local Host gets installed to all suitable
clients on the branch and for each PXE boot request the local hosts then elect among themselves
the machine most suitable to handle the request. This enables bare metal machines to boot
using PXE without the need for a specifically configured local WDS server. PXE Everywhere load
balances between the PXE boot requests across all the PXE Everywhere Local Hosts, thereby
maximizing scalability.
Integrates with ConfigMgr to apply OS images to PXE-booting bare metal machines.
In conjunction with Nomad, PXE Everywhere helps minimize WAN usage by ensuring that locally
cached Packages are used wherever possible when deploying an OS image.
PXE Everywhere Local Host - this is deployed to workstations at the branch and is responsible
for booting the bare metal machine into a WinPE OS enabling it to receive the targeted OS Task
Sequence.
PXE Everywhere Central Server installed to a machine on the core network where a
ConfigMgr console has been installed. See Installing PXE Everywhere Central Server for more
details.
PXE Everywhere Local Host For maximum scalability the PXE Everywhere Local Host should
be installed on all suitable clients on the branch. See Installing PXE Everywhere Local Host for
more details.
1. When a PC on the subnet wants to perform a network boot, it sends a DHCP request.
2. The PXE Everywhere Local Hosts elect the most suitable candidate for servicing the request.
3. The Elected PXE Everywhere Local Host contacts the PXE Everywhere Central Server to find out
whether it should PXE-boot the PC.
4. The PXE Everywhere Central Server checks the ConfigMgr database to see if there are any
scheduled OS deployment advertisements for the Bare Metal machine matching its MAC address
and / or SMBIOS GUID.
5. The PXE Web Service tells the Elected PXE Everywhere Local Host how to react depending on the
result of the search.
6. The actions taken by the elected PXE Everywhere Local Host are as follows:
If any mandatory OS Deployment Task Sequence Advertisement was found for the machine,
the PXE Everywhere Local Host PXE-boots it using the appropriate WinPE boot image. If
there are more than one Task Sequence deployments found, then the machine PXE boots
using the boot image referenced with the last deployed Task Sequence.
3. Prerequisites
The following operating system and software environment prerequisites should be met in order for PXE
Everywhere to be successfully installed and run.
Attention
You cannot mix the components from different versions of PXE Everywhere in a single installation.
In the requirements that follow, where an image is used as the alternative to a CD, it will be necessary to
mount the image.
Requirements Notes
PXE Everywhere central server To install PXE Everywhere central server the following needs to be
present:
IIS 6.0 or above with ASP.NET enabled
.NET Framework 2.0
PXE Everywhere local host Requires at least 2MB free disk space for the application,
plus whatever size your boot images require (typically
130MB each).
PXE Everywhere Port Requirements The following ports must be opened to enable PXE Everywhere to
communicate when firewalls are in place:
4. Installation
4.1 Installation
There are two main PXE Everywhere components to install:
Installing PXE Everywhere central server
Installing PXE Everywhere local host
Installation steps
The process of installing PXE Everywhere Central depends on the configuration of the server where the
installation is taking place. The steps for the installer and the conditions for which screens are shown are
described as follows:
Welcome
Sets the scene for the installation. Just click Next to continue.
Select features
This screen lets you choose the components for installation and their location. The features shown are
dependent on what items are present on the machine being installed onto, as described in the following
table:
Administration Tools
You can set which items from the available features will be installed by right-clicking and setting their
installation status from the context menu. You can change the location for a particular feature by
selecting it and then clicking the Browse button. This displays a file dialog that lets you modify the install
directory. In most cases you would simply leave all the items at their default settings and click Next to
continue.
System Center Configuration Manager integration
This screen is only shown when there is no ConfigMgr console present on the target machine. This screen
prompts you to enter the location of the remote ConfigMgr server. This should be entered as the UNC
path to a Server where the ConfigMgr database is installed.
This screen presents a last opportunity to go back and revise your settings before starting the
installation. If you are content with the settings that have been made click Next to start the actual
installation.
Confirmation of success
When the installation has completed a confirmation screen is shown to let you know that the items have
been installed successfully. There is a checkbox at the end of the installation that displays the
installation log file. It is good practice to check this box in case of installation errors, see Troubleshooting
Installation Problems for more details.
UpdateBootImage.exe
This executable is used to update boot.wim images for use with PXE Everywhere. It is installed to the
following directory:
PXELiteServer.exe
CreateBCD.exe
PXE Everywhere local is installed using the PXELiteLocal.msi file.
Installer steps
The steps for the installer are:
Welcome
Sets the scene for the installation. Just click Next to continue.
License agreement
You need to read the 1E license agreement and agree to its conditions before continuing. To do this click
on the I accept the license agreement option and then click the, now enabled, Next button.
User information
Enter your details and the license key and then click Next to continue. A default 10-day license key is
provided to allow the easy evaluation of the PXE Everywhere product. To run PXE Everywhere for any
longer period the product needs to be licensed. The license key should have been provided with your
purchase. If this is not present you can contact Sales to obtain a suitable key.
Configuration
Here you enter the URL to the PXE Everywhere Central web service. This enables PXE Everywhere local to
query PXE Everywhere Central when a machine attempts to PXE boot.
The URL is of the format:
http://<SERVERNAME>/PXELite/PXELiteConfiguration.asmx
where <SERVERNAME> is the name of the server where the PXE Everywhere Central web service is
installed.
Destination folder
In this screen you can change the default location for the PXE Everywhere local installation. The default is
set to:
This screen presents a last opportunity to go back and revise your settings before starting the
installation. If you are content with the settings that have been made click Next to start the actual
installation.
Confirmation of success
When the installation has completed a confirmation screen is shown to let you know that the items have
been installed successfully. There is a checkbox at the end of the installation that displays the installation
log file. It is good practice to check this box in case of installation errors, see Troubleshooting Installation
Problems for more details.
CreateBCD.exe
This program is used to copy an advertised PXE Boot Image to the PXE Everywhere Local cache, creating
a boot configuration database. It is installed to the following (default) directory on a 32-bit host:
See Creating a PXE boot image on ConfigMgr 2012 for how it is used and CreateBCD.exe command-line
switches for a description of the available command-line switches.
http://<SERVERNAME>/PXELite/PXELiteCo
nfiguration.asmx
DEBUG 1
MAXLOGFILESIZE 10485760 Determines the maximum size for the log file
in bytes.
Once the file reaches the specified size, a
copy will be made with a .lo_ extension in the
same directory as the original file. A new log
file will then be created.
The following example shows a silent PXE Everywhere local installation where the PXE Everywhere
Central web service has been installed on CMServer1, the PXE Everywhere Local TFTPROOT directory is
set to C:\MyTFTPROOT and the license key is set.
msiexec.exe /i PXELiteLocal.msi
CONFIGSERVERURL=http://CMServer1/PXELite/PXELiteConfiguration.asmx PIDKEY=ABCD-1234-5678-
8765-4321 REBOOT=ReallySuppress /qn
C:\ProgramData\1E\PXELite\TftpRoot
or
In this directory you will also need to place several utility files from either the Windows Automated
Installation Kit (AIK) or the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK), depending on which is
installed. The Windows Kits are normally found on the ConfigMgr primary site server, although they may
be downloaded separately from the Microsoft website. The files described in the following table are
needed for the TFTPROOT folder on the PXE Everywhere Local computers and can be obtained from one
of the Windows Kits.
boot.sdi \boot.sdi
abortpxe.com \boot\x86\abortpxe.com
bootmgr.exe \boot\x86\bootmgr.exe
pxeboot.com \boot\x86\pxeboot.com
pxeboot.n12 \boot\x86\pxeboot.n12
The following script provides an example of how these files may be extracted and copied on a standard
ConfigMgr 2012 R2 primary site server installation with Windows ADK. If the script were saved as
ExtractADK.bat and you have created a folder called C:\WADKFiles to receive the extracted files, the
command line syntax would be:
ExtractADK.bat C:\WADKFiles
@ECHO OFF
call "C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\8.1\Assessment and Deployment Kit\Deployment
Tools\DandISetEnv.bat"
SET TARGETPATH=%1
:INPUTERROR
:DONE
CD /D %1
The following script provides an example of how these files may be extracted and copied on a standard
ConfigMgr 2012 SP1/RTM primary site server installation with Windows ADK. If the script were saved
as ExtractADK.bat and you have created a folder called C:\WADKFiles to receive the extracted files, the
command line syntax would be:
ExtractADK.bat C:\WADKFiles
@ECHO OFF
call "C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\8.0\Assessment and Deployment Kit\Deployment
Tools\DandISetEnv.bat"
SET TARGETPATH=%1
:INPUTERROR
:DONE
CD /D %1
The following script provides an example of how these files may be extracted and copied on a standard
ConfigMgr 2007 primary site server installation with Windows ADK. If the script were saved as
ExtractADK.bat and you have created a folder called C:\WADKFiles to receive the extracted files, the
command line syntax would be:
ExtractADK.bat C:\WADKFiles
@ECHO OFF
call "C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools\pesetenv.cmd"
SET TARGETPATH=%1
:INPUTERROR
:DONE
CD /D %1
5. Troubleshooting
5.1 Troubleshooting
When troubleshooting problems with PXE Everywhere you should first check that the system meets the
requirements set out in Requirements. If the requirements are met you should then follow through the
process for creating a problem report to send to the 1E technical support team shown below.
Installation Problems
Post-installation checks for PXELiteCentral.MSI
PXE Central and SOAP Errors
Technical Support for PXE Everywhere
Checks Notes
PXE Everywhere installation directory By default PXE Everywhere will install its files to the following
location on 32-bit systems:
IIS Application Pool An application pool for PXELite is created in IIS Application Pools
and the PXELite web application is using this application pool, as
shown for 32-bit systems in the following picture:
Virtual directory configuration Under Default Web Site, check that there is a virtual directory
named PXELite. It should point to the PXE Everywhere
WebService directory in the PXE Everywhere installation directory
(as described earlier).
Anonymous access and Integrated Windows authentication
should both be enabled. It should be configured to run under
ASP.NET 2.0.50727.
Web service You can use the PXE Everywhere configuration web service to
check for correct installation. To do this run the following steps on
the server where the PXE Everywhere web site is installed:
1. Browse to
http://localhost/PXELite/PXELiteConfiguration.asmx.
You should see a PXE Everywhere configuration web page.
Note: This page is for installation verification only and
is not for customer use.
The web.config file stores the information about the log file and
database location. Depending on the version of Windows, the log
file for the web service will by default be located in one of the
following locations:
C:\ProgramData\1E\PXELite\WebService.log
or:
ConfigMgr Database The installer should create a stored procedure, in the ConfigMgr
database, named dbo.1E_GetPXEAction.
Web service/Database permissions If you get a Login failed for user NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK
SERVICEexception, then youll need to ensure that your SQL
Server instance has a login for this user (look under
Security\Logins).
5.4 PXE Local hosts may see SOAP errors when contacting Central
webservice
These errors are seen usually when PXE Local hosts contact the PXE Central Webservice while the PXE
Everywhere Application Pool is recycling.
PXE Boots may fail when PXE Local hosts encounter SOAP Errors.
Error messages as follows may be seen in PXE Local host logs:
Disable the application pool recycling for the PXE Everywhere application pool. This can be done by
following the steps mentioned below:
2. In the Connections pane, expand the server node and click Application Pools.
3. On the Application Pools page, select an application pool, and then click Recycling in the Actions
pane.
4. Select Regular time intervals (in minutes), and in the corresponding box type 0 (Zero) as time
interval (in minutes).
5. Click Finish.
The PXE Everywhere Local hosts logfiles. These are located in either of the following directories,
depending on the platform on PXE Local hosts:
C:\ProgramData\1E\PXELite
The PXE Everywhere Central service logfiles. These are located in either of the following
directories, depending on the platform on PXE Central server:
C:\ProgramData\1E\PXELite
You should then email the details of the problem encountered along with the above information to
Support. A technical consultant will then contact you to help find a suitable solution.